The Mind & The Brain

The Mind & The Brain: by Jeffrey M. Schwartz 

The naif wandered into a world dominated by dualist thinkers, where ontologies clashed among the warring theories. Struggling to glean meaning, he felt the conceit of others who spoke with certainty about the inevitable corollary of existence. A smattering of neuroscientists, intrigued by his perspective, began to cogitate on his ideas.

One day, an epiphany struck him as he observed a macaque, its actions imbued with an ineffable sense of purpose. He wondered if this was the empyreal truth, stark against the chaos of human thought.

In this world, some sought to subsume under grand theories, while others tried to squelch dissent. For the naif, these actions were an anathema to the beauty of questions that remained inchoate.

He met Laypeople as well as most scientists, and though their ideas were often apocryphal, their altruism was undeniable. In the end, his thoughts began to prevail stably in the mind, a quiet rebellion against a world of obstinate machismo and perverse certainty.

“This was her way of exorcising it,” he thought, watching another soul find peace in a whiff of truth amidst the endless brine of questions.

Would this story ever make it into a novella or remain a fleeting whisper in the geniculate body of the thalamus? Perhaps only the twain of truth and mystery would know.

 这位天真的年轻人闯入了一个由二元论者主导的世界，在那里本体论在纷争的理论中冲突交锋。他试图收集意义，却感受到那些自信地谈论存在必然结果的人的自负。一小群神经科学家对他的观点产生了兴趣，开始思考他的想法。

有一天，当他观察到一只猕猴时，一个顿悟突然降临，那只猕猴的行为中似乎注入了一种难以形容的目标感。他想，这是否就是那个崇高的真理，鲜明地对比着人类思想的混乱。

在这个世界里，有些人试图将一切纳入宏大的理论框架，而另一些人则试图压制异议。对于这位天真者来说，这些行为是对未成熟问题之美的诅咒。

他遇见了非专业人士以及大多数科学家，尽管他们的观点常常值得怀疑，但他们的利他主义却无可否认。最终，他的思想开始在心中稳定地存在，这是一种对顽固的男子气概和执拗的确定性的默默反抗。

“这是她驱散它的方法，”他想着，看到另一个灵魂在无尽的盐水问题中找到了一丝真理的气息。

这个故事是否会成为一部中篇小说，还是仅仅在丘脑膝状体中留下一缕转瞬即逝的低语？也许只有真理与谜团这对组合才能知晓答案。

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Being You - Anil Seth 1/25/2025

In the azure sky above the hinterland, a lone traveler gazed at a wisp of cloud drifting lazily, its edges glowing faintly. Below, the tumbledown wooden house stood on the edge of an idiosyncratic village, where oblongs of light from a cracked window revealed the chaos inside.

The benevolent stranger approached cautiously, his steps barely making a sound, guided by the soft hum of his circadian rhythm. His proprioception faltered for a moment as he stumbled on a loose stone, but he quickly regained balance. Inside the house, he found a woman who seemed bemused by his presence, her face framed by an air of inscrutability.

“Is this the place where modality shifts occur?” he asked, his voice steady. She nodded, motioning toward a corner where patterns formed from pareidolia, the play of shadows and light resembling strange chimera. The air seemed to quench his curiosity yet fuel his resolve, as though the room itself impinged on his thoughts.

Around him, entwined and interwoven with the room’s dim glow, were artifacts that spoke of arcane procedures—symbols and writings that were both mesmerizing and unsettling. The woman smiled, her voice carrying a tone that felt almost angelic, saying, “Even the most ordinary lives can traverse the full gamut of experiences.”

Her words, though profound, felt like gnomic statements, leaving him to ponder the causality of his journey. Outside, the distant stars shone faintly, offering a glimpse into the variegated depths of existence, the tinnitus of the cosmos echoing softly in his ears.

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在蔚蓝的天空下，远离喧嚣的腹地，一位孤独的旅人凝视着一缕漂浮的云，它的边缘泛着微弱的光芒。下方，一座摇摇欲坠的木屋矗立在一个个性独特的村庄边缘，破裂窗户透出的光形成了长方形的剪影，照亮了内部的混乱。

这位善良的陌生人谨慎地靠近，步伐几乎悄无声息，他被自己的生理节律轻柔地引导着。他的本体感受一度失灵，脚下一块松动的石头让他踉跄了一下，但很快恢复了平衡。屋内，他发现一位女子对他的到来显得有些困惑，她的脸上笼罩着一种神秘的气息。

“这是感知模式转变发生的地方吗？”他语气平稳地问。她点了点头，指向一个角落，那里光影交错，形成了奇特的错视图案，仿佛某种奇异的幻想生物。空气似乎熄灭了他的好奇心，却同时燃起了他的决心，仿佛整个房间都在侵扰他的思绪。

他环顾四周，发现房间的微光中交织缠绕着一些物品，这些物品无声地诉说着神秘的程序——符号和文字令人着迷又不安。那位女子微笑着，声音如同天使般纯净，她说道：“即使是最普通的生命，也可以经历完整的体验范围。”

她的话虽深刻，却像是格言般的语句，让他不得不思索起这段旅程的因果关系。屋外，遥远的星星微弱地闪烁，提供了对多样化存在深处的瞥见，宇宙的耳鸣在他耳边轻轻回响。

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Variegate: ˈver-ē-ə-ˌgāt; diversify, dapple; 多样化, 使斑驳
Azure: ˈa-zhər; blue, sky-colored; 蔚蓝色, 天蓝
Hinterland: ˈhin-tər-ˌland; backcountry, interior; 内陆, 腹地
Tumble: ˈtəm-bəl; fall, collapse; 摔倒, 倒塌
Modality: mō-ˈda-lə-tē; form, method; 情态, 形式, 模式
Propriocept: ˌprō-prē-ō-ˈsept; sense body position, perceive; 本体感受, 感知
Impinge: im-ˈpinj; infringe, encroach; 侵犯, 干涉
Idiosyncrasy: ˌi-dē-ə-ˈsiŋ-krə-sē; peculiarity, quirk; 特质, 怪癖
Chimera: kī-ˈmir-ə; illusion, fantasy; 幻想, 妄想
Quench: ˈkwench; extinguish, satisfy; 熄灭, 满足
Oblong: ˈä-ˌbläŋ; elongated, rectangular; 长方形, 拉长的
Wisp: ˈwisp; strand, filament; 一缕, 一丝
Entrance: in-ˈtran(t)s; captivate, enchant; 着迷, 吸引
Entwine: in-ˈtwīn; interlace, twist; 交织, 缠绕
Pareidolia: ˌper-ī-ˈdō-lē-ə; illusion, misperception; 幻视, 错觉
Tinnitus: ˈti-nə-təs; ear ringing, sound perception; 耳鸣, 听觉幻觉
Circadian: sər-ˈkā-dē-ən; biological rhythm, daily cycle; 生理节律, 昼夜节律
Causality: kȯ-ˈza-lə-tē; causation, connection; 因果关系, 关联
Gamut: ˈga-mət; range, spectrum; 范围, 谱系
Benevolent: bə-ˈne-və-lənt; kind, charitable; 善良, 慈善
Bemuse: bi-ˈmyüz; confuse, bewilder; 困惑, 迷惑
Inscrutable: in-ˈskrü-tə-bəl; enigmatic, mysterious; 难以理解, 神秘
Gnomic: ˈnō-mik; wise, pithy; 格言的, 含蓄
Abet: ə-ˈbet; assist, support; 帮助, 支持
Arcane: är-ˈkān; mysterious, obscure; 神秘, 难解